I’ve been reading a lot lately. Actually I’ve more that one book opened. “Cairo in 1000 years” by Jamal Elgitani, “The 23rd of July revolution” by Farouk Gweda, “Emma” by Jane Austen, “Aorz belabn lsha7’sen” by Rehab Bassam and finally “The Open Door” by Latifa ElZayat. Quite a lot, right? I sometimes get annoyed of such unfinished books but other times I feel that this is just normal because you know I can have more than one mood during week and even through day so I sometimes feel like reading a novel to fall asleep, other times I’m ready for a serious book etc. I like reading a lot and I’ve always wanted to join a book club. Do you know what that mean? Well, it’s an activity where a group of people meet regularly to discuss one book they’ve all agreed to read. Unfortunately such clubs are not common in Egypt, as far as I know. I thought of initiating one myself but none of my friends like reading that much. I once read an article in the New York Times about the importance of change and creation of new habits. It reminded of another article for Yousouf Idrees called in English “The other thing” in which he talked about how changing the road by which he returned home from work gave him a push of energy and enthusiasm and made him look at life from a new perspective. Of course changing the road won’t have this effect for anyone but considering that he is a novelist it makes sense. At the end of the article he wondered what would happen to his life if he took a new road everyday, read a new book, tried a new recipe etc. Anyway as we were all bored at work during that period and were feeling that we aren’t doing anything new or worth it, I said to myself let’s share the idea of the two articles with my colleagues. It was my first time and probably the last time to do this. Most of them dealt with the idea of discussing an article as a joke and began asking when I shall give them my lecture. Though I didn’t give up and held the discussion. Some kept laughing as I talked, others showed interest but at the end it wasn’t what I imagined. It didn’t allow me to express my thoughts, hear new opinions, and develop my mental abilities! The first thing I usually think about if I’m going on a trip is what books I shall take. Books always represent a good companion for me especially on the long train trips to Luxor to visit my sister who lives there. The last book I finished and liked much was “As for this, it is my dance” by Ghada M. Mahmoud. It’s a collection of the best of her blog published by El Shorouk Bookshop in a new series for the distinguished blogs. It’s a really good and light book. You should read it.Moey
20/6/2008
Cairo
